2009 Staff Goals

Sweeeeeeeeeettttt!

A whole new year of practise! Ready Set Go!

Yeah, so this thread, again, is for logging your goals per year / per month and seeing how you progress at them, as well as just plain remembering them...

This is for all staffers, (poiers, get your own thread, if any of you can unslack long enough to make one) not just the contact staffers or whatever... jugglers, doubles whatever if it's with sticks, it flies.

Here's mine:


So at least for me, being pretty much good on my previous goals... gonna make some new ones and see if they relate...

1) Write more stuffs down about staff and contact.
2) Finish the 2nd DVD.
3) Do more fire.
4) Make those glow videos I've been thinking about.
5) Make that contact video I've been thinking about.
6.1) FINISH the 'blind date' routine.
6.2) FINISH 'amazing machines' routine.
6.3) FINISH 'pachebels canon' routine.
7) Think more on writing down ideas and choreographies for multiple people.
8) Work out doubles in my head.
9) More club contact. + Club Routine.
10) Make a movement workshop.
11) Be more like Wes Peden and Julian Wong...
12) Go to the CJC.
13) Learn Handstands and Aerials.

WooHoo! I love these threads...

1. More contact practice
2. More tosses practice
3. Learn to teach better...
4. Make shorter staffs
5. An east coast doubles video
6. Teach at firedrums
7. Meet Meast and Malaman
8. Fire promo

1) 8 RH throws 4 staff shower solid;
2) 10 different 3 staff 360/180 variations;
3) Dual fishies
4) Learn every contact trick I can do back the other way
5) Basic footwork techniques from a few dance styles
6) Finish off the Mr Scruff doubles routine
7) Get a multi-trick 3 staff juggling sequence solid and performable on fire, every time
8) Throws video

oh, and afterthought 9) Make some decent practice juggling staffs so I don't keep ruining the wick on my fire set!

here we go...

1) get better at staff
2) do at least 75% of the list meg sent me.
3) make 'organic cow: the milk strikes back' video
4) make a new V+O sketch
5) re-drill all the old moves.
6) make an interesting multiperson fire routine....
7) finish, get illustrated, and print the first book.

1) Get a new staff (thank you KLM)
2) Get Buugeng
3) Get back in shape with doubles
4) Learn contact moves the other way
5) Continuous Jesuses
6) Matrix
7) Fishtails in all directions, antispin fishtails, some other fishtail variations
8) Be able to do neck combos continuously.
9) work on body movement (be more like banyan)
10) go to england again
11) perform more. loads more.
12) new routines in everything.

shoot, #1 is to get my back to heal (bad fall)

1) theraputic stretches and stuff
2) more fire with the staff
3) learn a bunch of leg pinches, wraps, and kickups
4) re-learn the matrix (Im sure I'll be awful once Im able to bend that much again)
5) practice double staff, especially contact doubles
6) clean up all fishtails
7) start saving for a new toy: 3-piece fire staff, glow doubles, OR Buugeng (cant make up my freaking mind)
8) try to make it back to Ireland for some video shooting.

1. Matrix....I'll have it by '10
2. start practicing again with staff
3. develope a 1 and 2 club routine
4. juggle more....that's why I stopped practicing staff...
5. modify my flow staff

1) Continuous steves
2) Second half of the matrix
3) Get my super-duper LED+Picaxe glowstaff to be reliable enough that I can:
a) Make a glowstaff video
b) Not come home from spinning stinking of kerosene
4) One-handed cartwheels with staff
5) Back somersaults consistent to do on grass (staff optional here)

1. Fishtails.
2. Tidy up what i know.
3. lern what i know the other way.
4. Doubles.
5.And i realy realy need to work more on neck spins.

1. play more staff less poi
2. practise and nail old moves both ways
3. more different fishtails
4. more 2 person 1 staff, two person two staff routines
5. footwork and acrobatics
6. variations of different moves

1. Get back into contact so i train it more than once or twice a week.
2. get the convict matrix properly (one of last years goals but doubles and clubs got in the way)
3. get my multi plane doubles hybrids solid
4. more quarter time hybrids.
5. Teach Rob staff
6. Perform 'Voodoo Sticks' routine at lots of conventions and get it booked by people that will pay me.
7. Solid Ultimate roll.

LOL TRY DOING THE WASHING UP FIRST!

1. Get addicted to the staff again, as I've been slacking.
2. Learn everything on the left!!
3. Put together a half-way decent routine.

I won't set myself too many goals, otherwise I'll underachieve.

I have only just started with my staff. any ideas on goals i should set?

1)be able to do everything i can smoothly without any awkwardness (think this is a constant goal, cos you can always be smoother+sharper)
2)learn more head stuff
3)learn more ohno and convict stuff (didn't do this much last year)
4)more 3d doubles stuff
5)make some staffs to start juggling with
6)work on more ball+staff stuff

Anybody who hasn't written goals, you still can. It's great fun, and really helps you chart your progress through the year...

So Feb update:

1) Write more stuffs down about staff and contact.
-- done a little...
2) Finish the 2nd DVD.
-- Yep, well my part, I've finished, for now.
3) Do more fire.
-- did, stopped a little now.
4) Make those glow videos I've been thinking about.
-- DONE
5) Make that contact video I've been thinking about.
-- Not yet, had a shot at it. Need to do it again but better.
6.1) FINISH the 'blind date' routine.
-- after notebook reversals... its maybe 33% done...
6.2) FINISH 'amazing machines' routine.
-- nope
6.3) FINISH 'pachebels canon' routine.
-- nope
7) Think more on writing down ideas and choreographies for multiple people.
-- A little.
8) Work out doubles in my head.
-- A Little, LAB 3 helped with that.
9) More club contact. + Club Routine.
-- No routine, but a lot of club contact...
10) Make a movement workshop.
-- still working on it.
11) Be more like Wes Peden and Julian Wong...
-- I'll always be working on this...
12) Go to the CJC.
-- trying to find out when it is.
13) Learn Handstands and Aerials.
-- Done a little work... but not enough.

These goals are way different to last years... Hmmmm...

Hmm.

1) Finish routine
2) Perfect back spin matrix thing the 'other' way
3) Make reinforced staff for acrobalance
4) Get six-step/steve solid both ways
5) Work on other breakdance stuff inc. freezes... three-step matrix?!
6) More leg/hip/whole body work
7) Work on freezes with one staff end planted
8) Work out how the f**k to integrate tribal fusion and contact
9) Do some stuff which... isn't contact... like... doubles n shiz... I guess.... Maybe not though.
10) Ooh and contact back-walkover. Big one.

as for an update?

1) theraputic stretches and stuff
yes. back still twinges but a month and a half of daily exercises has me almost back to normal.
2) more fire with the staff
no. Me dont lika de cold, so havent done much outside play.
3) learn a bunch of leg pinches, wraps, and kickups
learned a couple on those rare warm winter days, but Im hoping that spring will get me there.
4) re-learn the matrix (Im sure I'll be awful once Im able to bend that much again)
YAY! I picked it up easier than I thought would happen. Oddly enough, I think practicing that helped aid my back's healing.
5) practice double staff, especially contact doubles
yes on the practice, no on the contact part
6) clean up all fishtails
not much progress.
7) start saving for a new toy: 3-piece fire staff, glow doubles, OR Buugeng (cant make up my freaking mind)
8) try to make it back to Ireland for some video shooting.
not a chance anymore. World's problems are starting to affect us too. Im going to be making new goals.

2009 Staffy Goals

I guess I didn't make any yet,

1) Finish working on quadrant staff workshop before firedrums, gotta play with more them, should have a video out soonish.

2) Finish Meggies and me's dvd, although I don't think I really have to do anything at this point

3) Finish off and polish Aileen and me's staff routine.

4) Make a some kind of staff solo...I think this might have been a goal for the past three years.

5) Play more with tosses, get my three staff shower solid.

6) Make a new doubles routine with someone...old one is, well, a little old

7) Continue working on footwork things, maybe lift a leg every now and then.

8) Finish up staffy type video with Bri.

9) Divert some of my juggle attention to staff

10) Lock in all that foot contact stuffs...statics, fishtails, would be about time.

I'll check back in, in a month or so,

1) Work on variations of the base contact moves in the other direction.

2) Learn how to do more doubles contact with my 3' doubles.

3) Clean up body rolls to foot fishtails... mostly by learning how to do foot fishtails proper.

4) Learn how to do a meast matrix from a prayer steve while keeping my hands in prayer.

5) Elbow pops on my knees like in that feicha video.

6) Watch more baton videos and clean up my fujimi rolls.

7) Learn how to be an effective teacher, and teach a class at firedrums.

My staff goal for 2009!

1. Get more time for practice

2. Learn how to teach good and get more contact staffer in Japan.

3. Look for group contact staff performance crew.

4. Make nicer staff video.

5. Practice more acrobatic contact skills

6. Learn more foot contact

7. Clean up my double contact and practice more staff on staff.

8. Practice more triple contact.

9. Play with more isolation double and practice double pattern with others.

10. Learn multi staff juggling.

11. Do more shows.

12. More daytime practice rather than fire.

13. Travel more to meet staffer around the world.

14. Become flow stick geek.

That's about it I think... i might add some more when I know what.

1. More contact practice -- Its been atleast an hour a day
2. More tosses practice -- Not yet, its cold.
3. Learn to teach better... -- Have some scheduled classes to teach
4. Make shorter staffs -- Soon
5. An east coast doubles video -- Summer project
6. Teach at firedrums -- Don't know if i'm going to do that one
7. Meet Meast and Malaman grin -- FD
8. Fire promo -- Footage in the mail to my house

March/April update:

I'm gonna change my goals a lot:

1) Subtitles for DVD
2) Do more fire.
3) Col / Contact video...
4) FINISH the 'blind date' routine.
4.1) I made a couple new routines that need more polishing... need more and quicker thou...
5) Think more on writing down ideas and choreographies for multiple people. Yep, still wanna do this.
6) More club contact. + Club Routine.
7) Be more like Wes Peden and Julian Wong...
-- I'll always be working on this...
8) Get some stuff solid that is currently ridiculous.
9) Dance. or Change my movement.
10) Make a staff that's good for crazy stuff.
11) More Doubles Contact.
12) Practise the tiger roll with a ball.

+ get back to woodford...

1 goal (a bit late i know)
Get backcrosses clean with 3 staffs.

yay! not even halfway through the year and already my goals coming more into fruition..

1- well - more staff anyways
2- coming along nicely
3- well ive got inversions to play with now (thanks steve!)
4- i am confident by summer there will be at least one beautifully choreo'd routine
5-we'll come back to..
6- working on fishtail goodness

i think i need better body strength and agility for 5 so im adding in
7. get into shape! also..
8. get gammy arm to stop being so gammy..

whats the tiger roll?

it's a stupid roll that's gonna take me maybe 5 years to get smooth. And it'll just use my hand. And end in the hard thumb balance. And once I can do it, I'll need to do nothing else ever.

better late than never

1)learn enough moves in prayer to do a routine entirely in prayer
2)keep doing yoga as its keeping me safe from muscle strains
3)dual fishtails
4)sort out the annoying tendency of planes to move from vertical to horizontal when doing multiple turns in contact
5)learn more ground moves
6) get the neckspin cartwheel thing working
7)be able to do handstands (to smooth out the cartwheels)
8)explore footwork a little more, with less staggering around in circles
9)find some new double throws patterns to keep my busy beyond the two staff shower
10)find some better arm/hand positions when contacting

Happy birthday guy!

4) That's a never ending quest.

I should add turn the other way to my goals...

Thanks meg! I guess I've got one goal per year for the rest of my life now

one more - ish
11)look for more crossovers between hoop and staff

Just a few:

1. See if I can get a buzzsaw-esque move down with a 5 ft. staff.

2. Spin double 5 ft. staffs (well)

3. Make my own

1) Get a new staff (thank you KLM) -Done.
2) Get Buugeng -Done.
3) Get back in shape with doubles -Done.
4) Learn contact moves the other way - managed neck pivots, angels, steve, prayer steve.
5) Continuous Jesuses -not yet.
6) Matrix -not yet.
7) Fishtails in all directions, antispin fishtails, some other fishtail variations - i managed fishtails in both directions with both hands, no variations or antispins yet.
8) Be able to do neck combos continuously. -Kinda done, needs some work, and i need to learn direction changes.
9) work on body movement (be more like banyan) -it's improving, but i still need a lot of work.
10) go to england again -looks like I'm gonna be too broke to go.
11) perform more. loads more. -been performing a bit more, but thanks to the credit crunch not too many gigs.
12) new routines in everything. -doubles routine halfway done, poi and contact staff routines need to be rebuilt with new music.
13) learn 3 staffs. -I managed 72 catches today. need to work on reverse cascade.

1. Make my own beginning practice staff. Done

2. Create a how to make a beginning practice staff guide. Done

3. Submit it to HOP for the library. Doing that tonight

4. Get it published. Hopefully lol

5. Learn basic staff moves.

6. Same as above but on weak ass left side

7. Ditto above two, but backwards (apparently all you have to do is turn around lol)

8. Move jobs in August from Anglesey to Lincoln and find a group over that way that can help me develop some more and that I can take my 4yr old along to.

9. Find time to do all of this whilst learning new job and looking after 4yr old and looking after brand new baby girl, who is due 10 days after new job starts.

10. Have a beer tonight (this was only put in to satisfy my paranoia that a list isnt a list unless it goes to ten)

Jay

completed one of mine in my first gig this year. completed my first ever contact and staff on staff doubles act on fire. I even slipped in a couple of moves I've never done on fire before just to "feel" the difference. was all good

so
1) Properly choreograph full contact doubles set.
2) teach simon to count
3) make some new 3ft sticks to replace stolen ones.
4) tighten up double fishtails to the point I can Always do them not just on good days with good sticks.
5) teach simon to count
6) get some more music to spin to
7) get creative
8) teach simon to count
9) teach more doubles to certain people

1. Make my own beginning practice staff. Done

2. Create a how to make a beginning practice staff guide. Done

3. Submit it to HOP for the library. Done
4. Get it published. Hopefully lol(waiting grrr)
5. Learn basic staff moves. Hmmm getting there slowly, my head hurts a bit now
6. Same as above but on weak ass left side, see above my head hurts a lot now lol

7. Ditto above two, but backwards (apparently all you have to do is turn around lol)<<no chance as yet
8. Move jobs in August from Anglesey to Lincoln and find a group over that way that can help me develop some more and that I can take my 4yr old along to.

9. Find time to do all of this whilst learning new job and looking after 4yr old and looking after brand new baby girl, who is due 10 days after new job starts. I hate waiting, want to start new job now, want to hold new baby now.

10. Have a beer tonight (this was only put in to satisfy my paranoia that a list isnt a list unless it goes to ten) and my god that beer was nice, a bit of shameless advertising but Adnams Broadside is gorgeus and for the ban the car, ban the oil industry lot they do a Carbon Neutral beer aswell which is equally lovely.
Jay



If you want music to spin to whilst practising dont know how far you will get with using it on videos or for performances, but the Prodigys new album is good. And you could always try trawling myspace and internet podcasts for free stuff, Dark Compass is good for a weekly podcast plays all kinds of music.

Cheers dude, I'm looking for some new music to perform to. been thinking airwolf because it just screams action but more likely funky instrumentals or harass my producer friend to make me something special.

Check PM,

I like the Airworf idea, throw in a bit of the A-Team and some Macguyver(sp), get an 80's outfit and your onto a winner lol

I heard a Soulwax tune recently that seemed to be an Airwolf mashup, was punchy too. The DJ said it was a couple of years old, 'fraid I can't help more than that.

Staff goals for 2009:

1) get good enough with my painting pole so that I can justify buying a staff instead of more poi tools.

2) stop breaking out into random practice at work

3) remember to take the roller head off before random practice

I think 3 is arguably the most important.

2 is not such a big deal since i'm the boss.

link to picture of what i've been using:
http://www.woosterbrush.com/catalog.html

on the left side at the bottom of the menu type in the word 'sherlock' for the product search.

scroll down until you see the 'sherlock gt convertible'

The 4' to 8' works better then the 2' to 4' I have, even though it's much heavier. A buddy of mine has a real firestaff, and this paint pole is easily more then twice the weight.

dont stop the random practice! get it in whenever you can AND then add scheduled practice.

btw, staves come in a wide variety of weight. Mine is fairly light compared to a breakdown staff I've played with from a different company. MCP apparently used to have a solid aluminum staff (which had to have been super heavy). So it pays to test out all the options.


Im scratching all my previous goals and changing them:

Footwork
Dance
clean up the basics instead of learning new things.

I want to put on a smooth burn that looks competent instead of choppy. Besides which, any new moves I've been learning have been suffering because of not having those basic rolls and stuff down tight.

In the words of Meg, Im going to do it again, but this time with less .

Continue learning the basics.

Dentrassi showed me some stuff and it has been a lot of fun playing with it, so hopefully this will be a fun second (third?) prop.

july update:


1) Subtitles for DVD
-- okay I made someone else do this... er, thx noel.
FAIL -- 2) Do more fire.
WIN -- 3) Col / Contact video...
fail -- 4) FINISH the 'blind date' routine.
hmmm -- 5) Think more on writing down ideas and choreographies for multiple people.
win -- 6) More club contact. + Club Routine.
hard -- 7) Be more like Wes Peden and Julian Wong...
hmmm -- 8) Get some stuff solid that is currently ridiculous.
hmmm -- 9) Dance. or Change my movement.
fail -- 10) Make a staff that's good for crazy stuff.
FAIL -- 11) More Doubles Contact.
hard -- 12) Practise the tiger roll with a ball.

Half way through the year ish... I wish I could become more than I am. That a goal and a half. But expressivity. That's the main goal. Expressivity is the new musicality.

Update -

1 - substituted my paint pole for a real practice staff. Home-made from aluminum tubing, can maybe convert for fire at some point.

2 - Fail - still break out into random practice at work

3 - success, can scratch this one off.

(new) 4 - work more staff into dedicated weekly poi practice day. This is easier then it seems, because some of my practice mates are interested in staff too, and one of them even has a real staff.

5 - CONTACT! what brought me into wanting to do staff was contact. I don't ever want to touch the staff with my hands.

(thanks MCP for those wonderful contact tutorials!!!)

Pre-Burn Update:

1) Work on variations of the base contact moves in the other direction.
- I've been practicing lots of steves and angel rolls in both directions... steves are coming along nicely.

2) Learn how to do more doubles contact with my 3' doubles.
- Meh is how I feel about this...

3) Clean up body rolls to foot fishtails... mostly by learning how to do foot fishtails proper.
- My foot fishtails work now, and I've been working on this here and there. I think the demon roll to foot fishtails is quite nice.

4) Learn how to do a meast matrix from a prayer steve while keeping my hands in prayer.
- A worthy goal but I often get distracted by other fun things. Fail.

5) Elbow pops on my knees like in that feicha video.
- My staff is too bouncy, maybe my next fire staff will work better. However, I've gotten better at elbow pops.

6) Watch more baton videos and clean up my fujimi rolls.
- I've been inspired by a lot of baton work lately, but a lot of that stuff is really hard with a staff. Ray outs are pretty cool.

7) Learn how to be an effective teacher, and teach a class at firedrums.
- Never got around to it, I need to work A LOT more on this.

My goals have changed a bit, I think my primary goal at this point is to learn all the cool stuff I've figured out how to do with my practice staff for the past 8 months with my new fire staff. That would be nice.

New goals:

1) Continuous holy trinities. After I learn how to do that, I want to do the hard stall after each holy trinity.

2) Steve to antiturn headspin 360. Like the steve to headspin but once you get it on your head you turn in the opposite direction of the staff and then complete the move down your arm.

3) Substitution matrix cartwheel. I need to learn how to complete this once I come up from the cartwheel.

4) Vertical minimal steve. I really like this one.

5) More body rolls, including body rolls to foot fishtails.

Those are the main things I should be working on.

What have I been doing so far?
1) Organised a fire circle in Galway, with it's own FB page.
2) Went to the EJC
3) Bought 3 staffs for 3 staff contact
4) Learnt more Double contact, general double stuff, and some 3 staff moves.
5) Got my street show down to 5 mins of awesomeness; time and fuel went down, hats and talking to the crowd went up.
6) Working on a business FB page.
7) Pick up my opaque plastic business cards tomorow.
8) Got back into theatre.

Goals: more of everything.

December update:


WIN nearly. -- 1) Subtitles for DVD
WIN -- 2) Do more fire.
WIN -- 3) Col / Contact video...
fail -- 4) FINISH the 'blind date' routine.
win doing that right now -- 5) Think more on writing down ideas and choreographies for multiple people.
WIN -- 6) More club contact. + Club Routine.
10% win -- 7) Be more like Wes Peden and Julian Wong...
win-ish -- 8) Get some stuff solid that is currently ridiculous.
WIN -- 9) Dance. or Change my movement.
fail -- 10) Make a staff that's good for crazy stuff.
win a little thanks to dag -- 11) More Doubles Contact.
WIN with fingernails, now to learn without... -- 12) Practise the tiger roll with a ball.

Year is almost done... I'm going to need some new goals... But that's a whole new thread... wow, I even completed some of my original goals... sweeeeeeeet. Might have to do the hundreds... hmmm...

1) Get a new staff (thank you KLM) -Win
2) Get Buugeng -Win, should use them more.
3) Get back in shape with doubles -Semi-Win
4) Learn contact moves the other way - managed neck pivots, angels, steve, prayer steve.
5) Continuous Jesuses - Can do 2 in a row, but it's not consistent.
6) Matrix -Epic Fail
7) Fishtails in all directions, antispin fishtails, some other fishtail variations - i managed fishtails in both directions with both hands, no variations or antispins yet.
8) Be able to do neck combos continuously. -Still needs more work
9) work on body movement -Needs some work.
10) go to england again -Fail
11) perform more. loads more. -Win
12) new routines in everything. -Other than poi, Fail.
13) learn 3 staffs. -I dropped this goal due to my practice staffs breaking.

fail - 1)learn enough moves in prayer to do a routine entirely in prayer
ish - 2)keep doing yoga as its keeping me safe from muscle strains
win - 3)dual fishtails
fail - 4)sort out the annoying tendency of planes to move from vertical to horizontal when doing multiple turns in contact
win - 5)learn more ground moves
sort of - 6) get the neckspin cartwheel thing working
fail - 7)be able to do handstands (to smooth out the cartwheels)
win - 8)explore footwork a little more, with less staggering around in circles
fail - 9)find some new double throws patterns to keep my busy beyond the two staff shower
win - 10)find some better arm/hand positions when contacting